SHE CALLED CECIL B. DE MILLE A CONCEITED OLD GOAT. SHE PARTIED INTO HER EIGHTIES. AND SHE INSPIRED THE INCREDIBLES’ EDNA MODE.
THE EARLY CAREER OF HOLLYWOOD’S most famous costume designer gave no hint of superstardom. Edith Head would go on to become an icon not just of her profession, winning eight Academy Awards for her work — still a record for the category — but of Hollywood itself, memorialised in pop culture thanks to her trademark blunt black bob, dark round glasses and stern expression. But she cut her teeth on two near-disasters that might have ended her career before it truly began.
In 1924, shortly after joining Paramount as a sketch artist, she was asked to design the ladies’ gowns for the infamous ‘Candy Ball’ scene in Cecil B. DeMille’s extravagant 1924 picture The Golden Bed. It was her first major assignment, and told the story of a rich girl who loses her fortune and tries to ensnare a newly wealthy confectionary magnate. At the Candy Ball, all of the women’s gowns were made of real sweets, to be devoured by their suitors. Head was excited by her first big job, and went to town. She stuck to the script a little too rigorously, however, and made the costumes out of real chocolate and other sweets — which melted under the sweltering heat of the studio lights.
A year later, she began work on Raoul Walsh’s , on which she was tasked with dressing the lead elephant. She made a vivid wreath out of flowers and fruit, but filming was delayed for several hours, and the.
